When it comes to covering high school athletics in central Nebraska, over the years, I have learned that there is one tool that I am missing from my belt: A poker face.

The hole keeps getting deeper. Remember when I suggested someone should give the governor a shovel so he could dig a deeper hole for himself? That was when he had refused to read a published report on high levels of nitrates on his pig farms because it was written by “someone from Communist China.”

I was running errands last week when, while waiting in line to check out, I overhead a conversation that made my ears perk up. Elsewhere in the store, two shoppers, a younger man and an older woman, were having a conversation about the snowstorm that hit the area over Christmas.

They’re back. The 108th Legislature, Second Session, convenes today.

A couple summers ago, my family went to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City for a quick vacation. While riding the rides at the amusement park, my brother and I found ourselves on the precipice of what many would consider a nightmare scenario.

A change is gonna come. Leaders of the Nebraska Legislature want to streamline the process and perhaps change a few rules during the upcoming short session to avoid the mess of last year’s ninety-day struggle.

One of the first competitions of the winter sports season that I had the opportunity to cover this year was a wrestling triangular at Minden High School. In early December, I made the trek to the school in the daylight and left long after the sun had set.

Remember the Christmas bonus? Probably a thing of past given the changed face of the workplace. Perhaps your “bonus” allows you to work from home.

The chickens are coming home to roost. Several tax watchdog groups say the Legislature, at the behest of the Governor, has gone overboard in depleting state revenue by earmarking too much for property tax relief.

In 2018, following the passing of my grandmother, my staff gifted me a peace lily. It was a beautiful plant, and throughout the spring and summer, I watched it grow, fertilizing and watering it along the way.